View source for Lincoln–Kennedy coincidences urban legend

{{Double image|right|Abraham Lincoln head on shoulders photo portrait.jpg|150|John F. Kennedy, White House photo portrait, looking up.jpg|150|<center>Abraham Lincoln</center>|<center>John F. Kennedy</center>}}
The '''coincidences between [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[John F. Kennedy]]''' are a piece of American [[Urban Legend|folklore]] of unknown origin. The list of coincidences appeared in the mainstream [[Media of the United States|American press]] in 1964, a year after the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]], having appeared prior to that in the ''G.O.P. Congressional Committee Newsletter.''<ref name=Time640821>[http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,876021,00.html A Compendium of Curious Coincidences], ''[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]'', August 21, 1964</ref><ref name=Newsweek640810>''[[Newsweek]]'', August 10, 1964</ref> [[Martin Gardner]] examined the list in an article in ''[[Scientific American]],'' later reprinted in his book, ''The Magic Numbers of [[Dr. Matrix]]''.<ref name=Dr_Matrix>''The Magic Numbers of Dr. Matrix'' By [[Martin Gardner]]. 1985. [[Prometheus Books]]. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 84-43183, ISBN 0-87975-281-5 (cloth), 0-87975-282-3 (paper) (This was previously titled ''The Numerology of Dr. Matrix.''  It contains all of ''The Incredible Dr. Matrix'' plus four more chapters.)</ref> Gardner's version of the list contained 16 items; many subsequent versions have circulated much longer lists. The list is still in circulation today, having endured in the popular imagination for over 50 years. A more recent examination by [[Snopes.com]] found that the listed "coincidences are easily explained as the simple product of mere chance."<ref name="snopes">{{Snopes | link=http://www.snopes.com/history/american/lincoln-kennedy.asp | title=Linkin' Kennedy}}</ref>
In 1992, the ''[[Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal|Skeptical Inquirer]]'' ran a "Spooky Presidential Coincidences Contest." One winner found a series of sixteen similar coincidences between Kennedy and former [[Mexico|Mexican]] President [[Álvaro Obregón]], while the other came up with similar lists for twenty-one pairs of US Presidents.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/coincidences_remarkable_or_random/ | title=Coincidences: Remarkable or Random? | author=Martin, Bruce | journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=September–October 1998 | volume=22 | issue=5}}</ref>

== The list ==
An example of the list is presented here for illustration. Some say that much of the list has been debunked, and a few entries are outright falsehoods. Some urban folklorists have postulated that the list provided a way for people to make sense of two tragic events in American history by seeking out patterns.<ref name="snopes"/> Gardner and others have said that it is relatively easy to find seemingly meaningful patterns relating any two people or events, but that such patterns often do not stand up to rigorous scrutiny.

<!-- Please DO NOT expand this list. This is an article *about* the list, not a place to compile an even larger list. This short list is meant to be illustrative of the more common elements found in the various circulating versions of the list. -->
<!-- Please DO NOT fact tag this list. The sources are listed in the References section. Many of the items on the list are untrue - this is noted in the text. The list is here to illustrate the nature of the Lincoln/Kennedy Coincidences urban legend. This is an article about folklore; these items are no more expected to be verifiable than the plot of a fictional movie would be, yet it is perfectly acceptable to include a movie synopsis in Wikipedia. -->
*  Both presidents were elected to the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] in '46.  
*  Both presidents were elected to the [[President of the United States|presidency]] in '60. 
*  Lincoln defeated incumbent Vice President [[John C. Breckenridge]] for the presidency in 1860; Kennedy defeated incumbent Vice President [[Richard M. Nixon]] for the presidency in 1960. 
*  Both their predecessors left office in their seventies and retired to [[Pennsylvania]].  [[James Buchanan]], whom Lincoln succeeded, retired to [[Lancaster Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster Township]]; [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], whom Kennedy succeeded, retired to [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg]].   
*  Both their [[Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents]] and successors were Southern Democrats named Johnson ([[Andrew Johnson]] and [[Lyndon Johnson]]) who were born in '08.
*  Both presidents were concerned with the problems of [[African American|black Americans]] and made their views strongly known in '63. Lincoln signed the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] in 1862, which became law in 1863. In 1963, Kennedy presented his reports to Congress on [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955&ndash;1968)|Civil Rights]], and the same year was the famous [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]].
*  Both presidents were shot on a Friday in the presence of their wives.  Both Fridays preceded a major holiday observed within the week.
*  Both presidents were accompanied by another couple.
*  The male companion of the other couple was wounded by the assassin.
*  Both presidents had a son die during their presidency.
*  Lincoln was shot by [[John Wilkes Booth]] at [[Ford's Theatre]]; Kennedy was shot by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] in a [[Lincoln (automobile)|Lincoln]] automobile, made by [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]].
*  Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who told him not to go to the theatre; Kennedy had a secretary named [[Evelyn Lincoln]] who warned him not to go to [[Dallas]].
*  Both presidents' last names have 7 letters.
*  There are 6 letters in each Johnson's first name.
*  After shooting Lincoln, Booth ran from a theatre to a warehouse; after shooting Kennedy, Oswald ran from a warehouse to a theatre.
*  Both Johnsons were succeeded as President in '69 by Republicans whose mothers were named Hannah. 
*  Both assassins died in the same month as their victim in a state adjacent to the state of their birth.
*  Both assassins were Southern white males born in the late '30s, who were in their mid-20s.
*  Both assassins were killed before being tried, by men who were reared in the North, changed their name as adults, and were bachelors.
*  Both assassins had 15 letters in their name 
*  Both were shot in the head

<!-- Please DO NOT expand this list. This is an article *about* the list, not a place to compile an even larger list. This short list is meant to be illustrative of the more common elements found in the various circulating versions of the list. -->

Most of the items above are true, such as the year in which Lincoln and Kennedy were each elected President, but this is not so unusual given that Presidential elections are held only every four years, and both started their political careers 100 years apart.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} Other items leave out details that are different.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} A few of the items are simply untrue; there is no record to show that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy; Lincoln's secretaries were [[John Hay]] and [[John G. Nicolay]].<ref name="snopes"/> However, Lincoln's bodyguard, [[William H. Crook]] did advise Lincoln not to go that night to Ford's Theatre.<ref name=PBS>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/whitehouse/popups/crooks.html |title=William Crook |publisher=PBS |accessdate=October 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Assassination of Lincoln: History and Myth|author=Lloyd Lewis|page=297|isbn=9780803279490|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1994|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=F6HB7q8M9TIC&pg=PA297}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Birthday problem]]
*[[Coincidence]]
*[[Data dredging]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.snopes.com/history/american/lincoln-kennedy.asp "Linkin' Kennedy" article] at [[Snopes.com]]
{{Abraham Lincoln}}
{{John F. Kennedy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln-Kennedy Coincidences Urban Legend}}
[[Category:Urban legends]]
[[Category:Presidency of John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:Presidency of Abraham Lincoln]]
[[Category:American folklore]]
[[Category:Assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:Assassination of Abraham Lincoln]]